Metal Heads: Sculptures Made of Movable Type & Hardware

Sculptor Dale Dunning has been casting the same genderless face in all different kinds of materials for over a decade – placing it on its side, cutting it into ribbons and surrounding it with leaves. Among the most recent incarnations is a series of masks and heads made of movable type and thousands of tiny bits of hardware.

Each tiny little piece is painstakingly put in place to follow the contours of this face, sometimes sanded, the contrasting rough and smooth textures giving it even more dimension. Other heads consist of tiny bolt and washers, each welded to the other.

“The head that has been featured in my work for the last 13 years is a generic, simplified form not specific to gender, devoid of detail, resembling an egg. The head is universally recognized, easy to identify with. We live in our heads, see, feel, and experience the world in our head. It serves as the foundation upon which I can develop various paths to explore.”

See lots more of Dunning’s work at his blog.